When fabricating relatively long composite structural members, composite components may be joined end-to-end at a splice joint. For example, in the aircraft industry, a spar of an aircraft wing may be formed by joining two or more relatively long composite sections of the spar using a splice member. The splice member may be bonded to the composite sections by applying heat when the composite sections and splice member are mounted within a bonding fixture such that the composite sections and splice member may be co-cured or co-bonded to form the complete spar.
In order to meet manufacturing requirements, it is typically necessary to apply heat to the splice joint within a relatively narrow temperature range. The temperature range must be held for a predetermined amount of time until the composite components are cured. In addition, it is typically necessary to attain a substantially uniform temperature across the length of the splice joint without substantial variation in the temperature.
For co-cured or co-bonded composite components, it may also be necessary to apply pressure to the composite components while applying heat in order to attain the maximum mechanical properties and other attributes of the composite components. An autoclave is commonly used in the fabrication of composite components as a means for applying heat and pressure in a controlled and uniform manner. However, for components that are relatively long such as the spar of a wing, it may not be possible to install the components in an autoclave for the application of heating and pressure due to length limitations of most autoclaves.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for an apparatus and method for joining composite components of relatively long length without the need for an autoclave. Furthermore, there exists a need in the art for an apparatus and method for joining composite components wherein such composite components may be maintained at a substantially uniform temperature across the length of the joint without substantial temperature variation.